Steve Miles

Originally from Warley in the West Midlands, I moved to the Isle of Wight in 1994 and worked as a Graphic Designer for various Island companies, and currently work for Stainless Games Ltd. as a Graphic Designer and Artist on videogames. I began painting graffiti in the early 1980s under the tag Toxic363. At an early age (around 11), I was introduced to what was, at the time, a little known cultural phenomenon from the States called "Hip Hop". My next door neighbour had an American cousin who came to visit one summer. He was a great break-dancer, and brought with him a magazine about Hip Hop that featured the now legendary Rock Steady Crew. I was not much good at the Breaking but I was intrigued by the Graffiti section of the article that featured the Bronx "writer" Brim (who later visited the UK and painted and exhibited quite regularly here). I was really into drawing so I started to get in to the Graff, practicing my own letters every day at school and often into the early hours of the morning at home… I was hooked like some kind of Alphabet junkie!